Anybody build handrails for a living?

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I am not by no means a professional welder but I have done a couple major projects (for the family) in the past couple years....I guess you could call me a weekend welder.Any way My wife wants to tear out the upstairs interior handrails and she wants me to install new steel handrail/ballusters.  So I have a couple questions for the professionals.How do you attach the handrails to the floor/walls?  The finished handrails will sit on top of hardwood floors, this will be for my sons living area so I want it to be bomb proof.I have seen steel shoes and bases, do I weld the base on to the bottom of the handrail screw it to the floor and slide the shoe over it to cover the base?On the wall I really dont want bolts to be visible either, is there something made to do the same on the wall connections?  Do most people use weld tabs and connect the rail to the wall?I would imagine you would use large Lag Bolts to fasten the finished rail to the floor...Is that correct or is there a better way to do it.If I knew someone with steel handrails/ballusters I would go look at their setup but unfortunately I dont have that option.How far apart do you weld the ballusters?  How tall should the handrails be in a interior living space?I really appreciate any help, I realize that these questions are very trivial to a person in the business..But I am completely clueless and want the job done right.Thanks again for all of your help,
Reply:tabland,   first Ill tell ya im not a professional handrail maker,  but I do weld.  IMO the website you want to view is http://www.kingmetals.com/   King archetchural metals has several locations.  Plus they do ups.  There are other places Im sure of it.  You dont put a location, so if the three or whatever locations Kings offers isnt local for you what Id do is find the parts you like.   Get the name and google it (i cant bleieve Im saying that lol..thanks smithboy)  You will hopefully find a distrubutor of archetechural metals more local.  Also possibly checking out yeller pages under archeturechal metals. You may also price check with kings for the ups included price.  Depending on what you want, and the quanitity might not be a bad price.  Best if you can wait to order their hard copy cataloge too. I gurantee you wont be dissatisfied with it.  Good luck and when you build post up a thread on how it goes with pics.   Good luckIF it Catches...Let it Burn
Reply:Tabland I build rails for a living.  I build about 100 rails per year.  I don't know what you mean by sit on top of the step.  Will the rail be floating(with only newells attached to steps) or will each picket be inserted into the treads.  The floating rail is easiest for me to build because I can fabricate off site and install with a couple of bolt and be done.  Don't know what your Building code requirements.  In Tennessee, spacing for balusters is no greater sphere should be able to pass through them.  Height is 32-38 inches vertically (plumb) from nosing of steps.  For guard rail the height is 36 inches or greater.     King metal is a great supplier of accessories.  They have a variety of shoes to cover lag bolt for Newell post.Be creative with the wall mounts.  Purchase a decorative plate, drill a hole into it and weld your stud into it. Clean it up ant mount the plate into the wall.  Just one suggestion.     I would explain more, however not real sure what direction you are going.Have fun.
Reply:Well I have the King Metals catalog and it is awesome, I have ordered steel from them before too when building a steel fence and gate.mostly what I will be building is guard rails, only a few feet of actual rails.  So Lag Bolts are the best way to attach the piece to the floor and wall for that matter.  I will have to find some good looking shoes and come up with a trick way to attach it to the wall.Only the Newells will be attached to the floor not every picket.  So it is really just a case of building and attaching afterall.Thanks for all of your information, you guys really did help out a lot.This is a great site by the way, I have been a member for a couple weeks just lurking but decided it was time to post up today.Thanks again,
Reply:Check out the Wagner website- they mass produce the stuff, King just buys it from them and resells it. their website shows every possible wall bracket, shoe, bottom plate, and so on.http://www.jgbraun.com/pages/Jgbraun.html